


Stubbornness is a human trait

by QueenOfNerds713



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Gay animals, I really like mermaid stories, Lesbian mermaids just because i can, Mermaid lady is vicious, Rating May Change, So this is how it came about, and because I can't find any good lesbian mermaid stories, and im gay, and murder, don't fuck with her, she's a lesbian, so dont want no guy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-10-26 09:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20739890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNerds713/pseuds/QueenOfNerds713
Summary: The South Aquarium is trying to breed their very rare, female mermaid, but she having none of it and has either killed or seriously injured all her suitors (no matter the size). The head of the aquarium is getting frustrated trying to find her a mate she won't kill. Meanwhile, the new janitor is wondering why everyone's so scared of this mermaid; look at her she's harmless! But she gets more than she bargains for after an accident lands her face to face with the killer fish lady and realises that there's more to her that meets the eye.





	1. Prologue: You'd think they would have learnt by now.

"This is a complete disaster! Why won't she mate with any of them?!" The curator exclaimed, slamming his hands down onto his desk. "You made sure that this was the height of her cycle, right?"  
"Yes, sir. We've done the calculations, seen the test results, everything! She should be willing to take a mate."  
"But she won't?"  
"No, sir." The woman in the lab coat replied, taking off her glasses momentarily to clean the lenses before placing them back on her face. "We've even tested her blood to confirm 100% that she's a female. We don't know what else to do."  
The man behind the desk let out an annoyed groan, turning his wheelie chair around twice before stopping to stare at the woman again. "Well think of something! You're my head scientist for crying out loud! I pay you to think and fix problems, so think and fix!" Again he slammed his hands onto the desk in front of him. The other scientists in the room flinched, but remained silent at the sound. Yet the head of the scientists stood still at the noise; used to her boss's mal-temper. Again, she took her glasses off to clean, despite them not needing it.   
"Listen." She said, putting her glasses back on, putting her hands on her hips and looking up at the curator. "She's just probably picky, very picky. They're intelligent creatures and, like humans, they will only chose a mate suitable for both them and their offspring."  
"Well considering she's one of only three females known to be alive and in captivity, it's very important that she breeds. Soon!"  
"Well, what do you want us to do? I told you, there's no other oppositions. We've used them up. You can't exactly force her, she's bigger than all of us and she's no afraid of anything." At those words, the curator placed his head on the table and began to scream inaudibly. The head scientist sighed, exasperated by her boss's childish attitude. Breathing in a deep breathe to calm herself, mainly to stop herself from yelling at the man who signs her paychecks. "Look, we gave it a good run this month. But I don't think bringing in another male will help in the slightest. So perhaps we just let her rest for a month or so, then maybe think about slowly introducing another one. Maybe we keep the barrier between the pair in a bit longer than last time. Let the waters mix so they know they're both there. Okay? How does that sound?" The suited man became motionlessness as soon as the scientist spoke, and then proceeded to simply lift his thumb up in agreement. "So we are agreed. Let's go, boys."  
The woman then turned her heel and marched out the door as her fellow scientist stumbled out of her way and then went to follow her out. The curator sighed, looking up as the doors shut. Frustrated from the recent events, he placed his hands on his forehead .  
"Why is it so damn hard to breed a fucking mermaid?!"


	2. Beginnings

The South Aquarium is the most famous aquarium in England because it was one of only fifteen aquariums in the world permitted to host mermaids in captivity. This one being the only one in the UK. Which meant getting a job there was really hard. Now Abby was a fish lover, no, not like that, she just loved fish; they were her favourite animal since she was a child. She adored them! Studied biology and Ichthyology at school so she could work with them, go swimming with them and care for them. But even all that devotion and education meant nothing to the most famous aquarium in the UK.  
"Rejected?" She read as the paper she held slightly trembled as she shook.  
"Well, it is the most famous zoo in England, they probably had a thousand offers." The woman beside her muttered as she took a swig of her glass. "No offence, sweetheart, but did you really think you'd get the position?"  
Abby looked up at Karen and felt a slight pitch of insult at her friend's comment. "Well, no, I knew the chances were slim, but still! I was qualified!" Karen snorted at that, filling her glass with more cola. "I ready wanted to work with the mermaid too."  
"Come on, dude. You'll find something better. You can go work at another aquarium or maybe down in the Mediterranean, I hear there's a two-year project to study the coral reefs growing off sunken ships there." Sipping from her glass as she spoke. "Come on, that's far more interesting than working in some overrated water zoo."  
"But I wanted to work in the the overrated water zoo!" Abby whined, letting her head fall forward on the glass teatable in front on them. "Ow."  
"Dude, stop that. If you dent Lynn's fancy table she'll kill me." Groaning, Abby complied and lifted her head off the table. "Come on, have a look at the Mediterranean project thing, they're still accepting offers." Karen said, nudging her laptop closer to the other woman before looking up at the clock. "Okay, Lynn will be back soon and I've got to start cleaning up, so you've got to go."  
"You're kicking me out?"  
"You don't live here, now go home before Lynn returns and kicks both our asses." Karen said, tossing Abby's bag towards her as she got up and started to pick up all the empty cans on the table. "Go on, go! I'll text you later, hun. Bye Abagail!" She yelled as she entered the other room.  
Though tempted to make a joke about her friend being the queen' bitch maid, Abby stayed silent and simply smiled as she left through the front door. "Bye."  
It was raining slightly, not enough to bring out an umbrella, but enough to make her put her hood up. The streets were dark, even with the occasional lamppost lighting the way. But there were still many people wondering passed. Her apartment was about a ten minute walk from Karen and Lynn's place, so it was a short journey. The moment she got in her doorway she instinctively opened an ear for a distinctive meow, but again was met with silence. This was the third day in a row that Daryl hadn't returned home and she was beginning to think that stupid cat would never come back. He was old, temperamental and very smelly, but he was still her cat. She liked him mainly because he never tried to go after her fish, not after the first and only attempt landed him inside the water and attacked by said fishes. They weren't even aggressive fish! That was actually quite funny now that thinks about it. Daryl had given the tank a wide berth ever since.  
It was a very small apartment, only three rooms. Her kitchen and living room were combined, and her bathroom barely large enough to hold her mini shower and toilet; she had to use the kitchen sink to brush her teeth, and her bedroom? Well, she had to navigate around stacks of books to get to her bed, but that was fine. Probably why Daryl left now she thinks about it.  
But, even for this tiny apartment, the rent was ridiculous. So she needed a job, fast. Sitting down at her overcrowded teatable she pulled her laptop out from under the table, clearing a space as she did so.  
The Mediterranean job did look promising, meant she got to spend several months at a time down in the south of France's lovely sunshine. She could learn some French, eat fresh... what fruit grew down there again? She couldn't remember. But all in all, this looked like a great deal... except.  
She wanted to work at the South Aquarium.  
It was pointless, really. She had been rejected, and it was over with. But she couldn't help but pull up the aquarium's official website to look to see if the position had disappeared now, and indeed it had. All that was left was a position as a janitor. Cleaning spills, restocking the toilet paper, emptying out the rubbish. Lovely, but no thank you. She wasn't that desperate.  
Changing back to the Medi project site, she began to fill out an application. It was definitely asking for alot. She was starting to think she didn't have enough experience for this. Thinking back to an old piece of advice, she decided she needed a back-up job in case she couldn't get the Medi job. Looking through a local job site, she scanned through the list until her eyes met a familiar opening. There was the janitor opening at the South Aquarium again. She had already decided that she wouldn't take it and yet her eyes lingered on it.  
...Even if she got it, she wouldn't be working with any fish and she doubts if she would even be allowed to see the mermaid. ...It wouldn't be worth it, even if the pay looks quite nice... very nice actually, she didn't realise janitors could be paid that amount. Oh, oh the temptation. No, no, shaking her head she tried to remember that she wouldn't even be working with the fishes. But that pay... it would pay for her monthly rent and still have a little left over for shopping and herself. Ooh, that would work nicely.  
Arrh, okay, maybe just apply for the job as a back-up. As a last resort thing. Yeah, that seemed reasonable enough.  
As she brought her mouse to the application button to fill out a form, she had no idea what she was getting into. Because as that time, the curator of the aquarium was looking through the applications for the janitor position and couldn't help but be disappointed in everything he saw; he had many problem with past employees being thieves and whistle-blowers. So maybe it was time for a change of pace; maybe someone who was different. Someone who may not be physically strong, but strong in spirit. Someone like- oh, what's this? A new applicant? Well, wasn't that timed so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so.... Mermaids were first discovered in the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench about two decades prior. They live in water so deep that they're near impossible to find. There are different species of mermaid, depending on the depth of their water environment. Most common mermaids are found in blue holes; including our mermaid. All mermaids can live in both salt and fresh water (like Bull Sharks).  
Anyway, mermaids (like great white sharks) are VERY, if near impossible, to keep happy in captivity. Mainly because they can grow huge. Their maximum size and age are unknown, but the largest size recorded so far has been at fourteen feet, and they theorise that that one was only half her age.  
Because of all this, very few aquariums are fitted and permitted to hold them. So far only two breedings have happened in captivity, but both resulted in miscarriages. Which is why the South Aquarium is trying very hard to breed their very rare and only female.  
But what they don't realise is that mermaids are far smarter than they take credit for. They are conscious of themselves and their environment. They know what they want and what they need.  
Although they are not closely related, memaids and humans share close similarities. Except that all Mermaids are born hermaphrodite and can change their sex at will (not that the scientists know that yet) (clownfish and groupers are similar).  
And err... that's all I can think about for now. I'll add more info if i can think of more.


	3. The Fury of a captive

_Foolish, idiotic, mammals! Such puny insolence should be punished._

**POUND**

_I bet boiled they'd taste nice. _

**POUND POUND **

_But their filth-ridden bodies will need to be cleansed properly first. And that stupid brain of theirs pickled. _

**POUND POUND POUND **

"Alright! Alright! I get it! You don't like the tank, but please stop banging it or else the glass will break and there'll be a huge mess and we don't have a janitor yet."

_... _

**POUND POUND POUND POUND POUND POUND POUND POU- **

"OKAY! OKAY! What do you want? Food? I'll get you some fresh fish, how about that?" The scientist asked, worried more about her disembowelling him than the actual tank breaking.

He wasn't even sure why he was here, he wasn't a keeper! Damn staff shortage meant he had to sit here and keep an eye on the death fish. Honestly, she was scarier up close. She didn't have any eyebrows or eyelids, but he could tell that she was judging him and giving him the stinkeye. She was long, about 9 feet long (estimated, nobody could get close enough to measure her, and she seemed to become immune to the anaesthetic after the first couple of times it was used on her. Which was really problematic because it meant getting her out of her tank to clean it was impossible, and nobody was stupid enough to go in with her to clean it.) atleast, with deep blue colours all over in a unique pattern of shades. She had more fins than the average fish and her size alone without her temper was dangerous enough.

Speaking of temper...

**POUND POUND POUND **

"Yes! Yes, I'll get the fish!"

Jumping up, the man rushed into the storage room, looking for a large dead fish. Recently dead; she was very picky. A large parrotfish was floating in one of the buckets should keep her happy, right? Rushing back he hooked the bucket up the a lever system they'd created (hand feeding was out of the question... they'd learnt their lesson) a couple of months ago, it took the bucket up and automatically tipped it over into the small hole made in the tank (which had the most claw and cracked marks around, he reckons she knows that it's the weakest point). The dead parrotfish floated down and then back up again, but the mermaid gave it no regard; continuing to stare the guard/scientist down. The scientist had been working there for a while now, and he was starting to believe these creatures were sentient enough to understand words and gestures.

"...You're one scary bitch, you know that?"

One of her eyes kind of heightened as if an eyebrow had been raised. Oh yeah, she definitely understood him.

"Look, I know you don't like it here. But don't worry, we're working on finding you a boyfriend you'll actually like...one you won't tear apart." She just stared at him blankly for a second and then-

**POUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUND **

"No wait! Calm down! Please, stop it!"

**POUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUND **

"You'll break the glass! I mean, it's like the thickest glass there is... but still!"

**POUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUNDPOUND **

**Crack **

"...Oh fuck"

_Oh, you're gonna regret keeping me here. Idiotic human. _

The man froze in that instance, not at the realisation that the glass would break, but at the realisation that she knew it would too.

"MARY!" He screamed as the pressure of the water against the glass caved in and the killer fish lady was loose. She may have been a literal fish out of water, but by god he wasn't taking any chances as he fled to get the head of the science department.


	4. The woes of a third wheel

Abby was not much for dating, but at that moment she'd have gladly grabbed any woman off the street to marry because she was honestly sick of being a third wheel.

Lynn and Karen were her best friends, but they were also dating...which meant having to sit through their... affection. They didn't seem to understand the rules of PDA.

"Dude, can you two maybe... i dunno, calm down on the liplock? It may be nice for you but it ain't fine to watch." Her friends were attractive and all (and, she won't lie, there have been many fantasies involving the the pair in a threesome (waiting for the right time to suggest one)), but still. Seeing them both sucking face while trying to eat her dinner wasn't something she wanted. "...Please? If you're going to put me off my food then do it on Lynn's night cooking." At that, Lynn broke the kiss to give Abby a death glare.

"And what exactly is wrong with my cooking?" Ignoring Karen gently pawing at her shoulder.

"Well, no offence, but you tried to cook pasta without water."

"I had never cooked anything before!"

"And that's point number two." Lynn looked about to protest when Karen spoke up.

"Enough, this is happy hour. I'm tired and just want to snuggle up and watch a film."

"Oh god, not more of your PDA please." Abby muttered, Lynn continued to glare until it turned into a smirk.

"Oh I see, you don't want to watch because you are jealous." Her smirk grew as Abby's face flushed with blood. "Feeling a little left out, are we?"

"You shut up! I'm just... focusing on my career at the moment!" Slamming her hands onto the table. "Not everyone has to fall in love at 18!" Again Karen interrupted Lynn before she could start arguing with Abby.

"Speaking of careers, did you apply for that Medi thing?" Getting up and putting a film on as she spoke.

"Yeah, should take them a day or two to reply." The opening title menu music playing in the background. "I also applied to another couple of things as back-up."

"Like what?" Pressing play as she and Lynn sat down on the two seater sofa while Abby took the single seater.

"Oh." She wasn't quite sure she wanted to let her friends know she applied to be a janitor. Besides, she wasn't even that serious about it. "Some job in a local petshop or some other thing."

"Sounds delightfully fun." Lynn added, sarcastically. "You know, you're always welcome to come and work for me."

"Eh, thanks. I'll keep that in consideration." No way in hell, not after the first time.

"Your loss." Lynn muttered as Karen shushed them both, the opening music played as the film started.

Abby realised that the film night had turned into a sleepover when she woke up awkwardly on the floor. The other two tangled up together on the sofa. Yep, that's gonna hurt when they wake up. Not that it wasn't painless for Abby, she wasn't a teenager anymore; sleeping on the floor hurt now. With her back sort of locked up at the moment, Abby pulled out her phone to have a look at any messages; only three. One from her mum, her brother and... the South Aquarium? Opening it up she had a look.

\--- _Dear Miss Abagail White, We are happy to inform you that you have been approved for the position of: JANITOR at our institution. If you would like to accept this position, then please contact us at 0800 2345 3456 so we can have a chat and schedule an interview. We hope you will come to work with us. Ben Wheeler, the Curator._ \---

Oh, well this changed things. She honestly wasn't expecting to get that far, well it wasn't as if she was just offered the job. But perhaps she should go to an interview, even if she doesn't get it or take it, it'll still be experience to add to the CV. She decided she'd give them a call later...when her back unlocked and she could go outside to call.


	5. Ignorance is stupid

"...That glass was just under a foot thick."

"We know."

"...And she just-"

"Like it was paper." The scientist said, watching his boss groan loudly and rub his face in frustration.

It had been a hectic four hours. Normally it would not have taken so long, but it had taken three and a half hours of waiting before the mermaid had become fed up for lack of water and slivered into the other side of the tank (the one used to show off potential suitors); finally allowing the staff to seal her in and go in to start cleaning up the mess. "We're currently contacting a glass specialist to see if we can get a custom size, maybe a quarter thicker?"

"Make that double." The curator groaned out. "I will not risk another tank break and you told me that the foot glass would hold!"

"Well, we seemed to have underestimated her strength and...persistence." At the boss's raised brow he added: "Er, Jerry said that she was banging on the glass for food...or atleast that's what he guesses. It's quite hard to tell why a killer fish is generally pissed. And no-" Cutting him off. "-she's not on her period. We told you, she's a fish; it doesn't work the same way as humans. And err." Turning to his boss again. "If you say stuff like that outloud again, Mary said she will send you to an equality seminar for being insensitive towards your female employees." Pausing again at the look on the curator's face. "Sorry, but Mary's just way scarier than you so..." Trailing off as he man in question signed and started walking away.

"I want this place spotless! Someone get a cleaner!" Pointedly ignoring the scientists telling him that they've had no cleaner for about a week or two now, and just walking away. The scientists in turn just grumbled as they started mopping and sweeping up the mess.

From the opposing (sealed, definitely sealed!) tank, the fish lady watched the humans start to clean up. She had come to really hate the white clothing they all wore, and the black suited man even more so. How dare these troglodytes treat her as if she were a beast! She supposes their ignorance allows them to believe that they are special. Ignorance is stupid. She felt like just watching them was making her stupid.

Pushing away from the side, she swam over towards a rock to lean on and ponder; wasn't like she could do much else. Since she'd been violently snatched from her home she's taken to watching how the humans behave, and she must say they were very weak...which makes it all the more humiliating that they caught her.

They had a strict schedule, she noticed. They followed a pattern; which made them easy to predict. Had she been a land walker, she could have escaped long ago. But no, for now it looked like she was trapped. Because even if she could get out of the building, she'd still be in the middle of a landmass. There is no way she could escape on her own, no. She'd need atleast one land-walker. But none of them were trustworthy. As she just said, the white cloths and the black suited one were evil. She needed to keep an eye out for those she could manipulate into helping her...but that was going to take a while. Sighing, she leaned down on the rock, staring at the dirty glass. It was so disgusting that she had to wipe it to look through (there were spots all around the tank where she had made looking points), as much as she wanted it cleaned, she was not about to let these apes think that they could walk all over her. No. She had pride.

"Jesus, why don't they just hire a janitor already? This is ridiculous, we're scientists! We're not supposed to be cleaning this shit up."

"Oh stop whining, you're just complaining because you got mopping duty. It could be worse; you could be picking up glass shards with your bare hands."

"Then go put some bloody gloves on then, you idiot!"

"I'm already halfway done, there's no point!"

_Prideful ignorance. ...How in the known world did I get captured by this foolish species? Ergh, my skull aches. _

"Would you two pack it in? Why are you being such girls? Honestly..." Questioned the leader of the scientists, or so our fish had observed. Being honest, although she hated every living organism there, she had come to despise the woman least. She was just as unkind in her tests as the others, but she had come to admire the authority and guts the human held over the other, larger humans. It always amused her when small things stood up against the force; for they never had anything to lose. "Anyway, Ben's gonna hire a cleaner soon, so stop complaining and enjoy it while it lasts." Daring them to do just that, the two men just grumbled and looked away, continuing to work. The woman then turned to her, face scrunching up in disgust. "And we have got to do something about the tanks. It is filthy."

"Welp, if you say so, but it's your funeral." The men may have been obedient, but they were not stupid. It amused the mermaid that how at the end of the day, she struck more fear into these mammals then both the mini human and black suit combined. "Not a sum in the world you could pay me to get me in there." His fellow cleaner nodding quickly in agreement.

The woman sighed, taking her glass circles off her vision sensors to wipe them before placing them back on. "Well, what do you suggest?"

"...Wait for the mermaid to do it herself?"

"...you're lucky i don't pay you or else you'd be fired." The mermaid almost smirked at that, almost. The woman turned away to walk out, but stopping just before the door. "If you idiots can't come up with a simple solution on how to clean that tank, then you may not be smart enough for your current positions, if you know what I mean. I may not be able to directly fire you, but don't forget who Ben listens to most." Smirking and closing the door behind her.

"What a bitch." And for once, our fish lady couldn't help but agree.


	6. The butterfly effect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has re-read this since I updated it, you'll see that I changed the janitor's name from Bonnie to Abby, simply because I like that name more. (*cough* and Abby is my fantasy girlfriend's name *cough*)

Interviews were always stressful, usually Abby had a special interview outfit to make her look smart and professional. But she wasn't entirely sure if it was worth wearing, considering the job she's being interviewed for is a janitorial position. But she put it on anyway. A pair of black trousers and a black buttoned shirt with the collar done up neatly, and her hair up in a ponytail to finish it off. She didn't look too bad, but her clothes could have used an iron.

The aquarium was about a fifteen minute drive away, but Abby couldn't drive (well, she could, she just wasn't allowed to... not for another 4 months anyway) so she had to get the bus. Getting the bus sucked. But it was only twenty minutes, so it was tolerable. 

The South Aquarium used to hold bull sharks and large elephant seals (but they were all transferred when they started the mermaid programme.), so it was a very large building. It held about fifteen Olympic sized swimming pools and was the fifth largest aquarium in the world. It had two subbasements as well. 

Point is; it was ridiculously easy to get lost.

The receptionist was useless, but thankfully a passing scientist found her quickly and she was soon inside the manager's office. It looked very blank and lifeless, if it wasn't for the smell, she wouldn't have guessed that this room was in an aquarium. She sat down in silence in front of the desk, with only a loud ticking clock for company. After a few minutes, a neatly dressed man in a black suit walked in and sat down at the desk, placing his hands together and leaning his elbows on the table. She guessed he was trying (and failing) to look intimidating. She sat there awkwardly until he spoke.

"So, I hear that you're interested in joining our team." He spoke passively. "You know, it takes great work and courage to join us, only the best of the best make it here."

_...to work as a janitor?_ She was tempted to say, but thought that it may not have been the smartest move to sass your potential employer.

"What makes you think you have the knowledge and perseverance to work with us?" He asked.

"Well," she started. "I've lived alone for a long time so I know how to clean up after myself... and others?" Slightly confused at how to answer that. But the man just nodded. 

"Okay, better question. Are you willing to listen to orders and give up all dignity you possess in order to scrub public toilets?"

Err... she wasn't sure if she wanted to answer that honestly. He continued to stare at her in silence until she answered. "Er, well. I lost all dignity a long time ago? And work is work...?" _Wow, this was going terribly._ By the look of the curator's face, it seemed he agreed.

Sighing outloud he asked. "Okay, let's try something else. Do you have a criminal record?"

"Or, sort of..." At that he looked up directly to her face. 

"Sort of?"

"Nothing serious, I just crashed a car and have had my licence revoked for a while. It wasn't my fault, I was drugged on my night out. But the victim decided to blame me and he got the best lawyers to do it so it's on my permanent record... ha." Slowing down as she noticed the man's face becoming less and less impressed with every second. "Er yeah, I am so sorry for wasting your time." Picking up her bag and getting up to leave.

The man stood up with her. "Not at all, I'll show you out." Going to open the door when a man in a suit burst in, hitting the man's elbow n the process.

"Sir, the fish is banging up the glass again. At this rate she'll break it again and we don't have a spare tank that'll fit her!" Ignoring his boss's yelp of pain and simply running out again, clearly expecting him to just follow. They both seemed to have forgotten Abby and just walked off. She just stood there for a few seconds before following them. She didn't get the job so they're wasn't gonna be any consequences in going to see the mermaid.

Plus, you only live once. And in this life she wanted to see a mermaid.

The pair didn't seem to notice her trailing behind and discreetly enter the room. The moment she did she was awestruck.

The mermaid (wow the films were so wrong) was huge, she knew it was, but still! She's pretty sure it could swallow her in just a couple of bites. Just she was just... wow. She couldn't be sure of the colour with the glass so dirty, but she was pretty sure she was different shades of blue. And her eyes...they were huge and so alien. Wow, she was so strange but so beautiful. In that moment she thanked her lucky stars she was born female, because if not then everyone would be able to see just how much she liked the look of the fish lady. If you get what she means. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

"I though I told you all the clean up hours ago!" The curator cried, bringing Abby back to reality. Oh yes, there were others in the room. As discreetly as possible, she crept slowly around the tank and out of sight. "Why is there still such a mess?"

"She broke through the top of the tank, there's glass inside the water too! She's just not having anything today!" One of the scientists cried, using the lid of a plastic box to shield himself from flying glass being tossed by the mermaid. "I don't know what it is, she's just had enough- AH!" Slipping on the wet floor and landing on is back painfully.

"Someone do something! NOW!" The suited man yelled, also choosing to pick up a lid as a shield. 

During all the chaos, Abby crept around the tank to look at the mermaid from behind. Though it was really hard to see with the state of the water. Absentmindedly, she picked up a nearby cloth and started to clean the side of the tank.

"Oh, has she run out of energy?" Asked someone from the other side of the tank, Abby looked up at that and immediately froze.

While she was busy cleaning, it seemed the mermaid had noticed and was now right in front of her, staring her down. Abby was pretty sure she was narrowing her eye in scrutiny. Abby didn't move, and just watched as the pair remained in checkmate. After a few moments, she smiled sheepishly. If the mermaid had eyebrows, she was sure she would have raised one.

"OI!" Abby then refroze as a loud voice and hands grabbed her from the side and pulled her back. The mermaid (she needed a name, she didn't want to just keep calling her mermaid in her head) looked just as shocked and immediately went back to her attack by grabbing floating pieces of glass and tossing them back at everyone. "Who are you? What the hell are you doing in here?" Abby searched every corner of her mind for an excuse when the curator spoke up.

"She's the new janitor, let her go." Oh good- wait... what?

"Oh, sorry ma'am. But don't get close like that again, that thing as grabbed and drown several people who got too close." Ducking at the last words. "I believe we should leave until it calms down." Abby just nodded and allowed herself to be pulled out of the room, still confused.

Outside, once the doors were shut, several of the scientists left while two remained to watch the door. Abby just followed the curator back into his office. Then once again they sat down at his desk. He let out a disappointed sigh before looking her straight in the eyes. "Look, I wasn't- hrrr.... Okay, the only reason I said was because I didn't want another security lecture from my head scientist. But, in anyways, I suppose we'll give you a chance. Seeing as you aren't dead." Abby continued to stare blankly ahead, tilting her head slightly in confusion. 

"Wait, what does-"

"Congratulations, Miss Abagail. You start on Wednesday. Go to reception to collect your uniform then. Thank you." Getting up and pushing Abby out of the room and slamming it show. Leaving a very confused and apparently employed Abby to stand there are question her next move.


	7. Won the battle but lost the war

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the beginning there's word about Blue Holes; which are the tops of underwater caves (look it up, i can't really explain it well). I saw them on my favourite show and about a legendary creature that lives in there that would snatch people from the surface. It is called the Lusca (may be spelling that wrong). Now, I wanted to use that word instead of mermaid (cos it feels a bit childish and silly using the word mermaid), but the legendary Lusca is said to be a hybrid between a shark and an octopus (and if any of you mention the film octoshark then I will not be happy), which, of course, does not fit the description of a mermaid. So yeah.  
The young mermaid pups grow up in Blue Holes because they are small enough to squish through narrow underwater cave walls. Once too big they'll start plucking swimming birds or animals swimming across the surface. Then, once too big for that; they'll make their way through the underwater maze into the open ocean where they are free to feed on large fish and mammals and grow larger. No adult mermaid has ever been found as they live so deep that no man can get there. So all captured mermaids, including ours (who will get a name in a chapter or two), are adolescences at most. A fully grown mermaid can reach about orca size, if not larger. It really depends on where they live and their diets (down in the depths, the pressure prevents them from growing too large, but if they hang out in higher waters (twilight zone or higher) then they can grow larger).  
Okay, that'll do for now.

Locked up behind closed doors again, our fish lady was certainly not happy. Well, she was happier than when those demons were in the room, but still... It was always so noisy. Back at home she was always alone, well sort of... but atleast it was always silent. As a young mer, they would grow up in the depths of a water cave which the humans had come to call Blue holes. It was easier to get food for young mers; they were small enough to traverse the narrow caves deep below crushing pressure. Plus animals stupid enough to go swimming in at the entrances would be easy to pluck from the surface.

It was that kind of easy meal that got her caught. She was nearing the age where she had to leave her nursery, but that one day... that one, stupid day, she had decided to go after one final meal for the trip ahead. But she was unaware of the watching eyes and... and.

She shook her head a couple of times, attempting to rid the horrible memory from her mind.

Damn humans, they were sick creatures.

With none of them around, she sat quietly on her filthy rock. She was honestly tempted to hop out of the tank again just to get out of the dirty water (they could have atleast added a filter!), but there was a painful ache from her tail that said otherwise. There'd been a couple of shards of glass that had gotten stabbed in her tail and arm during the attack, she'd taken most of them out, but the continuing ache probably meant that there were still some left in there (or that the disgusting water was infecting the wounds). She hadn't actually noticed it until that weirdo had started wiping the side of the glass. 

Speaking of weirdo...what on Earth had that all been about? They were definitely a newbie; had no black suit or white coat, well, they _were_ wearing some black cloth stuff. But the fact that their footwear was was a deep blue with a pretty space pattern on them told her that the human was new. Plus, they didn't seem to understand what she was capable of. You'd think the idiot would realise that when someone glares it means they are not pleased. Honestly, _humans._

After a while, she felt the sound waves of the doors unlocking. _Oh great._

In walked the suit man, his followers and the tiny lady that scared everyone else.

"So, have we calmed down yet?" The urge to start tossing glass at them returned. But the cuts on her hands were still hurting from the last round, plus, she's pretty sure the tiny woman threw a couple back at her before and by the stars did that woman have aim. So instead of another attack, sh simply sat on her rock in silent resentment. "...I shall take that as a reluctant yes." The head scientist said, cleaning her glasses again. The fish noticed that one of the lenses was missing and she couldn't help but let out a triumphant smirk at the knowledge that she had partially blinded the woman. Mary ignored it, turning to her followers with an embarrassed blush on her face. 

"I'm starting to think she may have a mental disorder; none of the other aquariums have been experiencing nearly as much trouble as we have." Spoke up one of the scientists. This time our fish didn't care about the cuts and searched desperately around the tank for a piece of floating glass to toss at the man that spoke up. 

"We don't even know their life expectancy or maximum size yet let alone whether or not they can have mental issues. It doesn't matter anyway." Mary replied, cutting of our mer's search attempt. "She's just rebellious; she'll calm down eventually and settle down. They're-" She cut off with a duck, narrowly avoiding the only slice of glass the mermaid had found and thrown. "You have such a temper, honestly." Tutting the mermaid while the other scientists quickly picked up all the possible shields in sight to defend themselves with. "Oh calm down, she's run out of glass." The woman said, looking at her cowardly co-workers. Sighing, she turned back to the mermaid; noticing the slight change in the colouration of the water. "And besides, it looks like she's injured anyway." 

The fish's eyes widened slightly, she'd hadn't meant for those fuckers to realise she was bleeding. Now all those eyes were watching her in scrutiny, trying to pin-point all the areas where she was bleeding. But, of course, she wasn't about to let them see. Spinning around, she swam to the farthest point in the tank and sat in defiance.

"My, my, you are the most stubborn creature I have ever met. Stop being such a child and come and allow us to clean them." Mary spoke, taking a step forward but stopping at the look the mer was giving her. She may push the fish, but even she knew when the limits were being pushed. She let out a huff of frustration. "Fine, be like that. Maybe tomorrow you'll come to your senses and let us do out damn jobs." Turning on her heel and walking out. The curator muttering a few confused sounds and following her. The scientists just kind of stood there for a couple of seconds before becoming unnerved enough by the fish's death glare that they quickly followed Mary out. Again she was left alone.

Relaxing, her cuts began to ache more. She could almost fill the bacteria in the water entering her bloodstream. But, she couldn't bring herself to really care. Because it suddenly felt right; felt like an exit key. Sure, death from infection would hurt, but... it would be worth it in the end. Leaning back against the glass, she felt all the fight leave her. She was tired and, though she would never admit it, scared. This was not her home. She was trapped and she hated it.

But just because she chose death didn't mean that she would simply let those human fuckers come do as they please. No, all humans were scum, vile creatures! Disgusting, horrible humans... but as she slowly passed out from exhaustion, her mind slipped in the memory of those shoes that weird human was wearing.

The space shoes and a world where she could borrow and wear them too.


	8. A bond begins

Even while thinking back to the past couple of days, Abby couldn't quite figure out how she got here. Hadn't she told herself that she didn't want to be a janitor? Then why was she now standing just outside the aquarium, about to begin her first shift? Her current excuse was still that she needed money quickly and that she had heard nothing about the Medi trip for a while (she suspected that they wouldn't be calling anytime soon). Besides, being a janitor wouldn't be so bad, right? 

_Don't think of the toilets. Don't think of the toilets. Don't think of the very public, very disgusting, toilets!_

She was failing. Nonetheless, she walked nervously into the centre and straight up to the receptionist. A young girl, probably slightly younger than Abby, sat at the desk, legs rested on the table and chewing some gum while she spoke on the phone pretty loudly. Despite standing in front of her and clearly waiting for service, the girl seemingly ignored Abby in favour of speaking loudly into the receiver about some uninteresting topic. It took about 30 seconds before Abby lost her patience and pulled the telephone wire out of the socket when the girl briefly turned around. The girl, once realising she'd been cut off, proceeded to glare at Abby.

"Oh you're finished? Nice, well I'm here for my first day and I told you had my uniform." She spoke in her fake sweet voice all while glaring back at the receptionist. The younger girl snorted.

"Oh yeah, you the new janitor. Ha, how _lovely_~" She said, getting up to grab a uniform from a locked cabinet, she then dropped it right at Abby's feet. "Have fun cleaning the shitters all day." There was a great urge to strangle the annoying brat, but Abby greatly resisted. Simply thanking the girl and walking the changing rooms all whilst picturing a grave stone with the girl's name on it.

_Abby's resistance has reached level 4!_

The outfit was like a plastic onesie, it looked like the kind of thing you'd wear if tracking through water...or other types of liquids. 

This was not reassuring. 

_Don't think of the toilets._

It was bright blue and came with a type of belt that could hold tools. But it was big enough that she could wear her clothes underneath it, which was nice. Once she was wearing her uniform, she sat down at the bench for a couple of seconds; wondering if she was suppose to wait for someone to come and tell her what to do or was she supposed to just find the cleaning cart and start straight away? Thankfully, a minute later, a woman came in. Straight away Abby could tell that she was a scientist, despite her small size. She a good foot shorter than Abby, and if she didn't have clear stretch marks on her face from age, then Abby might have believed she was younger than herself. But despite her size, the woman was certainly intimidating. Her face seemed to carry a permanent scowl. "Listen." She spoke up, voice bold and loud. "It isn't my job to go showing the newbies around. But since our boss is such a prick, here I am. I'm on a time schedule here so keep up." She then turned on her heels and head out the door, it took a couple of seconds before Abby realised that she should follow her.

The scientist lady was fast and speaking quickly, barely pausing for breaths. Abby caught nothing of what she was saying; too busy trying to keep up and remember where she was. 

"Are we clear?" The woman asked, turning abruptly and forcing Abby to stop before colliding with her. She almost asked her to repeat everything she just said, but the glare the woman had on her face cut off any verbal remark, and Abby just nodded. "Good." The woman said, turning around and starting to walk off again. "The cart should be in the boiler room, clean it when you're done with it." She called out from around the corner, leaving Abby to stand cluelessly and panic about the whereabouts of the boiler room. She started following the direction of the scientist lady, but it was clear she had disappeared. Abby decided to search for a map or ask someone for directions.

But, you remember what I wrote back in chapter 6? The aquarium has multiple levels and was practically a maze; it didn't take much to get more lost than she already was. That urge to cry helplessly returned.

She wasn't sure how long it was until a passing scientist found her and took pity, taking her to the boiler room and promising not to mention this to Mary; whom she guessed was the scary lady's because he seemed to shudder at the mention of the lady. Now, with her cleaning cart and supplies together, it was time to finally get started (right after she realised she was still lost and proceeded to chase the scientist down again and ask directions, he told her that he would create a map for her next time and helped her out in the meantime.)!

She had decided to clean everything dirty she came across, which (thankfully) meant no toilets yet. Looking back at her progress she realised why the curator was ready to hire anyone; the whole place was filthy. She had no experience in cleaning anything, so even her measly effort made such a difference. There was also an added benefit that she could now find her way back by just following the clean trail she had made. It took a while before she heard voices again; shouting coming from down a hall and a man telling someone else that he was leaving. Watching them walk across the hall in front of her revealed that they were both scientists and that one was Mary. Now, although she hadn't done anything wrong (that she was aware of), she immediately decided to avoid the woman as best as possible. She quietly crept into a hallway and into a large room. It only took a second to recognise this as the mermaid's room she had snuck into last time. Though something was very different this time.

The mermaid wasn't throwing a fit, in fact she wasn't doing much at all. Which was quite worrying. The tank was so filthy that it was hard to even see her. Which made Abby realise that she needed to clean it, right? A janitor's job was to clean stuff, wasn't it? Well, what other reason was there for the scientists to let it become so dirty? The mermaid seemed out of it, so Abby set about draining the water from the tank. It was quite loud, but the mermaid didn't react. _Very worrying._

Mermaids could breath oxygen straight out of the air like snakeheads and arapaimas, though they generally prefer water. The water left alot of slime on the rocks and glass, which was quite disgusting. Grabbing a bucket of fresh water, her cloth and a sponge, Abby climbed into the partially empty tank and proceeded to scrub the walls first, kicking slime into the drain-like thing as she did.

Quickly she had one side of the glass spotless. She almost wanted to take a picture as she felt quite proud of it. Turning around to start on the next wall, she noticed the mermaids eyes were open and widened as they locked onto the clean glass, before quickly noticing Abby watching her and turning to glare. "Woah, it's okay. I'm just cleaning the glass because it is very dirty." She spoke, believing the mermaid couldn't understand her, but doing it anyway. Talking felt better than nervous silence. "Honestly, you'd think those white coats would get off their ass and it themselves! But no, they left it all for me to clean. So generous of them." She muttered as she worked. She could feel the mermaid's eyes on her back, but tried not to let it bother her. 

"Do you have a name?" She asked, a bit sick of just calling her mermaid in her head all the time. She heard the fish shuffle a bit in response. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I just want to be able to call you something else other than 'mermaid'." She said, turning around to see that she had moved over to the de-dirtied area Abby had just cleaned. Leaning against the clean glass and scratching at the slime all over her, watching Abby as she did so. "Oh yeah, you probably have that stuff ll over you. Erm, here." She said, going to pick up one of her water buckets but slowing down as the mermaid bared her teeth. Slowly, she placed the bucket as close to the mermaid as she would let her. "That's fresh water, so you can clean yourself if you'd like. Or you can just wait until I fill the tank up again." Watching the mermaid for a second before returning back to the task at hand.

She didn't hear any movement for about two minutes before she heard the mermaid pull the bucket closer and start dipping her hands in it. Which reminded her, what name to call the fish lady... Well, you know what her favourite name is?

"Niska?" She called out to test the name, the mermaid looked up at the word and raised a fictional eyebrow of sorts. "Niska. It's a name, I was testing it out. Do you like it? I can call you that or something else if you'd like." Niska sat there for a few seconds before deciding that it wasn't the worse thing she could be called. Abby smiled at the pondering look the mermaid had on her face. "Niska. I think it suits you; I heard it from this TV show I like and the character on there was my favourite; she was smart, vengeful, and nobody fucked with her, you know? I am sooo gay for both her and the actress that plays her. Seriously!" She giggled, finishing up another side of the glass. Abby continued to talk about random things that entered her mind as she started on the main rock. The flat surface was easy to wipe over and it didn't take long.

She had two more sides of the glass and the lid to do, but she stopped when she noticed the dark red liquid slowly leak from a large cut on the mermaid's tail. Niska seemed out of it, but Abby wasn't about to approach her without warning her. "Did you hurt yourself on the glass? Do you want me to pull it out?" Niska didn't react, slumped against the clean glass wall. Slowly, Abby approached and sat down in front, grabbing the almost empty bucket she had handed over earlier. It still had some water in it, so she started pouring it over the wound before grabbing it (making sure she was definitely wearing gloves) and pulling it out of Niska. 

Which did not sit well with the fish.

In a second, Niska was pinning Abby down on the rock, most likely with murder on her mind. "Hey hey, woah! I was just pulling the glass out! Oh jesus, you are alot scarier close up." Abby had forgotten just how big Niska was. She may have been incredibly attractive (Abby! She's a fish! Different species and all!) but wasn't exactly planning on being killed today. The mermaid seemed to sit on Abby for a couple of seconds before looking back to her tail, probably realising that the glass was out. She turned back to glare at Abby before getting off her. There were still some other wounds on her, but Abby doubted she'd be allowed close enough to deal with those. So instead, she turned back start cleaning the glass again. She didn't start speaking again until she had finished the whole tank. "And voila! A lovely clean tank, damn that took while. Niska remained where she was, choosing to look around the scrubbed areas in hidden delight. Abby then replugged the drain and got out to start filling the tank up again. 

When it was about half full, the main doors swung open and some scientists walked in, stopping dead silent when they realised Abby was standing there. "Oh, I cleaned the-" Abby spoke before being cut off as a large pair of arms came around her and dragged her into the cold waters of the tank she had just spent hours cleaning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The TV show that Abby is talking about is Humans; a show about robots and A.I stuff. I am in love with the character Niska in there; she's also a lesbian and sooo hot.


	9. A reputation to uphold

Now, Niska knew that this wasn't the smartest of plans; pretending to drown the only human to show some usefulness to her. But she had a reputation to keep; she wasn't about to let these white coats think she's gone soft. The girl's shock quickly wore off and she started thrashing like hell, which helped to distract the fish from this weird guilt she felt. It was easier to picture her as struggling prey.  
The white coats jumped into action once their brains caught up, one yelling for help while the other grabbing the closest objects in desperation. They were honestly useless, no doubt the first to go when the apocalypse hits...  
The girl (did she give herself a name? Niska couldn't recall.) was starting to get worryingly still, though not against killing the cleaner, she'd prefer not to end up in a filthy cage again. The human needed air, badly. A quick glimpse of the white coats told her that nobody was watching, so for a second she pushed the human above water in order to catch a gulp of air before dragging her back down before the coats turned around.  
The human clearly wasn't too pleased with all this, she'd stopped any escape attempts and just decided to give the mermaid her stink eye. It almost amused Niska so much she very nearly let her go, but as she said earlier; she has a reputation to uphold. Still, it didn't stop her from being distracted, and so she was taken completely by surprise when she was wacked by a heavy weight and felt the human ripped from beneath her. She only saw stars for a good couple of seconds, coming to her senses when she could hear the human gasping for air from the other side of the glass. She knew she shouldn't, but she felt glad she didn't get to kill the girl.  
More of the white coats poured in, including the infamous short-temper. Niska made sure to glare her usual scowl; cannot look weak.  
The human sat there chocking on air for a few minutes before the black suit came in.  
"Miss Abagail, a word in my office?" Ab-ba-ga-al? Humans have such strange names. The human got up, a coat placed on her shoulders, and began to walk out, but stopping briefly to turn back and look at Niska before following the black suit.  
Niska realised too late that she forgot to glare at the human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been very busy, might come back to this chapter and make it longer. But it's stupid-o'clock here right now and i got classes in the morning. So this will have to do for now. Sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> I update when i have inspiration and am in the mood.  
Also, if you see any mistakes let me know. I'm dyslexic and don't have a proper spelling programme.


End file.
